Telling the Story, Selling the Story

Month: May 2009

Hello and welcome to World of Writing. Please join me on the latest stage of my writing adventure. Let me bring you up to date on my writing life so far.

Writing has quite literally been the story of my life since I could form words. My first memory is bound up with words. I remember running my fingers along the curve the curve of the letter A, etched in sandpaper on a pink background. From then on, I was either immersed in a book, or creating scenarios in my head. I kept your angsty classic teenage diary and dreamed of literary fame.

Still, I became aware of the need to earn a crust and early on made a decision to earn it by writing. It makes sense to me, because it means I can spend my days doing what I love. There is nothing more satisfying to me than finding the right word to describe something and then using those words to paint pictures of the world around me. I feel that writing has given me a window into worlds that I would otherwise not have access to. I also appreciate the fact that my writing has given me a skill which is useful to others. All my life, people have been asking me for advice on the right words to use, or to give a seal of approval to something I’ve written. I find it deeply gratifying to be able to use my passion for words to the benefit of others.

Here’s just a few facets of my writing life.

Creative Writing: All writing is, in a sense, creative, so I do derive creative satisfaction from my professional writing. But I do devote a portion of my day to pure storytelling. Characters dance in my head and beg for their stories to be told. So I endeavour to tell their stories in the best way I can through short stories and various secret projects. I’ve taken numerous courses to perfect my technique and have given a few courses of my own, to young people.

Radio Writing: Towards the start of my career, I flirted with radio. I’m still in love with radio, with its immediacy and the way it forms a one-to-one relationship with listeners. I’ve written scripts for radio interviews and for longer programmes. Writing for radio requires me to be crisp and concise with my language and to write as if I’m chatting with my best friend over a cuppa.

Magazine and Newspaper Writing: For the past six years, I have devoted myself full-time to news and feature writing for newspapers and magazines. Like radio pieces, news articles are very immediate, requiring me to boil issues down to complex points. But it’s feature-writing which has enabled me to benefit financially from flexing my creative muscles. It has put me in the privileged position of being able to explore issues in depth and to tell people’s stories, including my own.

PR and Press Release Writing: In recent years, I have delved more into publicity-orientated writing. I’ve written press releases and advertorials for magazines, but organisations I’m involved in have also sought out my verbal expertise. Writing publicity material gives me licence to play with words. It also enables me to demonstrate my commitment to the organisations I’m involved in.

Now I’m embarking on my latest literary adventure, blogging. Many blogs offer tips on writing, or showcase a writer’s talents. Mine will incorporate those elements, but it will also discuss trends in writing and the ways in which writing has changed. It will provide a realistic insight into the workings of a writer’s mind and into how I operate as a writer. Above all, I want to strike up a relationship with my readers and demonstrate the high quality of work I can carry out on their behalf.

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